At 200 kilograms with chronic health problems, Mayuki Kawasaki said she has more to worry about than Covid-19. So she sits outside Pattaya Police Station, refusing help from social workers to bring attention to the bullying of the obese.
The Japanese-Thai woman, 38, said July 13 that she is not homeless. But she regularly sits on the roadside between the Soi 9 station and Central Festival Pattaya Beach, happy to collect money or food donated by passersby.
Morbidly obese, Kawasaki has infections on both legs, possibly a result of lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic disease caused by microscopic worms. But she has refused medical help or assistance from the Chonburi Social Welfare and Human Security Department.
She complained that she has been bullied all her life with people even stealing her property, taking her to doctors against her will and reporting her to police as a vagrant. She insisted she worked for a freight company and worked in Pattaya for 15 years. But now she’s out of a job. So she sits on the street to let the world know about her plight.
Despite her health condition and street life, Kawasaki said she’s not afraid of catching the coronavirus and doesn’t wear a face mask. She claims she already had one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at Banglamung Hospital.
She may not be concerned, but others are. Nearby motorbike taxis want the Chonburi social welfare department to come and take her to a shelter for her own good and theirs.
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